Page 181 of Stay Scared

I knee him hard in the thigh.

He keeps his feet, but his grip shifts enough for me to wrench my wrist free.

I move.

Rook catches the back of my jacket. Fabric bites across my throat as he yanks me backward.

I slam an elbow behind me.

It connects with ribs.

He grunts, and his hand comes around my waist.

For one ugly second, he has me pinned against him exactly the way his cameras have spent all night trying to make every other man look. His mouth is hidden beneath the beak, but his breath comes hot through the filter near my ear.

“You think they are coming for you.”

I grab his thumb and wrench.

His grip loosens.

“They already did.”

I tear free.

Rook comes after me.

The center chamber opens ahead.

I run, his boots hitting hard behind mine. No speaker delay or digital trick now. His body is actually there.

I cross the circular floor mark, and Rook follows.

The public camera swings down.

The analog camera behind the one-way glass has him now. I can hear its motor through the wall.

Rook hears it too.

His stride breaks, and his beak turns toward the mirror.

Too late.

I back toward the far corridor.

Rook looks at me, then the glass.

Understanding catches up.

His hand closes around Ash’s mask. “You brought Shaw into my maze.”

I keep moving. “You brought yourself.”

Rook lunges.

I turn and run.

His fingers catch the back of my jacket again.